Stolen
by JD Lance
Summary: Five years have past since the trio landed on Earth, the war is over and Lance and Ilana are starting to take a serious relationship on Galaluna. All of this is suddenly threated, and Lance will have to do whatever it takes to get back what has been Stolen from him. i don't own SBT, this fic contains violence and is based on a more mature level (combat themes)
1. Chapter 1

**okay, so this story is based on the future in the show, five years after the trio was sent to Earth. This supports all that LancexIlana stuff and infers that my other stories on earth already occured. this is more on the violent side including fights and stuff. disclaimer:I don't own sym bionic titan, hope you like it, this should be updated soon, and no i havn't abandoned my other fics**

Lance and Ilana sat in the royal carriage driving away from a charity fundraiser on Galaluna. Two years ago they finally returned home and fought against the Mutraddi who occupied their home and forced them into exile on Earth for an additional three years.

Lance was twenty three, Ilana Twenty two; legally… the young princess could marry… Lance clutched a velvet box in his hands. When they returned home two years ago, Lance and Ilana were sitting on her balcony in the palace. They over looked the city as it was being rebuilt, they watched children run through the streets, everything was finally like it was before the attack; calm, peaceful… simple. The sun warmed the air, and the breeze blew through the white wood trees that surrounded the palace. That moment was when he confessed his love, his desire to be with her after their time on Earth.

He'd had feelings for her early on; it was hard not to feel attraction to the girl, not only was she the princess of his home world, but her true beauty and personality were all revealed when she was taken away from all of the guards and strict royal codes of behavior… _manors_. They grew close when living under cover together as an Earth family. Slowly, his simple feelings started getting too complex. They posed as brother and sister, so she was off limits completely for their cover identities. But as soon as they got back to Galaluna he was declared a hero. He had newly found social status which he had none of before; he was suitable to be around the princess.

As they would refer to it there, _he asked her out. _They'd been together for quite some time, and the boy was planning on proposing when they got back to the palace, more specifically on the balcony under the three moons.

The carriage moved through the streets, the white washed buildings around them illuminated from the moons watching from above. Ilana leaned her head on Lance's shoulder, "don't fall asleep, now." He lightly chucked.

She sighed, it wasn't a frustrated sigh or a depressed one, but rather a happy, content one. The fact that Mutraddi no longer hunted her, wars were no longer fought in her homeland, she could just gaze off at the capital city as she lay against her lover's body. His steady heartbeat gently pounding as the warmth from his body comforted her.

"Don't worry…" she yawned. Lance put his arm around her back; she rested on his rock hard chest as his fingers fiddled with the material of her dress.

"If you're tired, you can sleep. I'll keep you safe, promise." He smiled at the girl in his arms; her deep, cool black eyes met his. The freckles scattered across her face perfectly, her hair in a traditional Galalunian style with the back part up pointing to the moons. Blonde hair like the rays of the sun… perfect pink lips.

She closed her eyes; Lance felt his heart melt as he stared at the perfect, beautiful princess. "What a wonderful life we'll have…" he whispered to himself as he checked that the ring was still in his coat pocket. He'd already checked in with her father. He knew to full extent of the responsibilities that came with the marriage, he would become royalty, and eventually he'd rule Galaluna by. But that didn't matter, they could be commoners like they were on Earth and he'd love her just the same.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a huge explosion blasted their ears. Lance instinctively pulled Ilana in close and covered her, their carriage shook. He looked out the window; the first car in their convoy had been destroyed, bursting into flames.

Panic flowed through the air, members of the royal guard started to form a perimeter around their carriage. Men dressed in black suits appeared from all around, emerging from alley ways or from behind bushes. Others were positioned on the rooftops of the taller surrounding buildings and started shooting off the guards from above.

"What's going on?" Lance demanded to the head of security, who just approached the carriage.

"I don't know sir, it's a full scale ambush, communications are down! They're attacking from all directions, sir!" the soldier reported.

"I want a defensive perimeter established inside the circle, heavy guns and EMPs take offensive against the roof gunners. Make sure your men take positions from inside the vehicles, that'll keep them from getting shot from above. Move!" Lance ordered, the soldier saluted and started barking out orders.

"Come on, Ilana. We have to keep you safe." He said grabbing her hand, they had a force of seven royal guards now, three went to cover the princess.

"What is your plan, captain?" he asked Lance (he'd been promoted from corporal after their return)

"We need a safe house, clear that shop, we'll hide inside!" he said pointing to an empty, one story house. Bullets whizzed by, barely missing the group. Chunks of asphalt from the road kicked up, the captain drew a pistol from his jacket and shot down three of the enemies.

"The shop is clear, sir!" a guard said, running from the building.

"Good, every one fall back!" Lance shouted. Ilana was the first one inside, Lance stayed out to make sure all of the men got inside.

"Jackson, Remis! Get inside!" Two young soldiers positioned inside escort trucks turned to see the captain; they quickly ran towards him, exposing themselves to the attacks from above. More shots rained down. "Hurry, I'm not losing any men today!"

Lance ran out, shooting at the roofs to display some covering fire. The noise of combat rang through his ears, his heart pounded… the adrenalin rush was back, he may be a captain. He may be a noble now, rich and wealthy, living in the palace. But the old corporal was still in him, the frontline spirit was still there… and that meant never backing down from a fight.

With precision aim, he picked off seven or so men from the roofs and some who were advancing on the ground. Suddenly, he heard a wail, and legs collapsing on the gravel. He turned to see, Jackson was on the floor, his chest stained with blood, it didn't resent on his red combat jacket, but it showed on the undershirt.

"Sterus, Vector! Get out here, we have a man down!" he shouted to the men inside, two burley lieutenants rushed out carrying large machine guns, which were originally mounted to the roofs of the escort trucks, but were now being handheld.

The men started unleashing a rapid fire storm of bullets, the high pitched pop felt like a hammer being drilled into their ears, since none of them had the time to put on their noise protection gear. Lance and Remis dragged the boy inside, as a trail of blood stained the ground behind.

One of the heavy gunners fell to the ground, the other momentarily stopped shooting. "Sterus!" Lance cried out, a soldier from inside helped take Jackson inside. Lance grabbed the injured boy's rife and began to fire, hoping to buy enough time for Sterus to get back up.

"No, sir. You need to leave us." He groaned, crimson blood leaked out on the floor, but he picked up his gun and kept shooting.

"I don't leave men behind, especially the ones who served with in corps from the beginning!" He looked at the men; they'd fought by his side since he first was assigned to a squad. They'd practically been to hell and back together, several times.

"You're not leaving anyone behind." Vector said firing of more bullets from behind a metal power box. "You're moving forward, to safety. This is what we were trained to do, now go!"

Lance was breathless; he'd taken cover from behind a car. The courage, the bravery, the strength… the men had volunteered to be part of the princess' personal guard, they weren't in the front lines anymore... they didn't get assigned to deadly missions on a weekly basis… but that obviously didn't make them grow any softer.

"Like we used to talk about years ago… the hero always gets a happy ending." Vector said as he peered out from behind his cover and fired off a couple rounds. "You've got to get out of here, save the day, marry the pretty girl!"

"what about you, I'm not leaving you guys. You deserve your happy ending." Lance argued, sending off some more rounds.

"in this book, boss… you're the main character here… as long as that main character lives happily ever after, us supporting roles get their happy ending." Sterus said. "Maybe this bucket head will get one too!" he signaled jokingly to Vector.

Lance stared, speechless… he'd lose two good friends… but there was no talking them out of this, and they were the only people he'd ever met that were more stubborn than him. He saluted; they returned… all at once, the trio stood from behind their cover, Lance ran inside as the two old comrades fired their last shots.

"It's a damn good day to die!" Vector shouted at the top of his lungs, the men inside bolted the door shut, the windows had been barricaded with wooden tables and other furniture. Ilana came forward and put her arm around Lance. He watched helplessly from inside as a storm of bullets knocked the life out of his childhood friends.

Ilana and the remaining five soldiers carefully watched Lance, his back turned to everyone. All they could see was the back of his red combat jacket and his clenched fists. "We need to find a way out of here… I don't intend for their sacrifice to be in vein."

No one moved, they could hear the people outside moving closer. "Move it!" Ilana commanded, the men snapped out of their trance and started looking around. She stared at Lance, he looked at her.

"I'm fine, right now let's just keep you safe." The captain handed her his pistol, he'd grabbed the rife for himself. They proceeded to the back area of the shop, where it was safer, the barricades wouldn't hold for long.

"Captain, we've found something." The head of security said, signaling them to follow. In a small, dark room three soldiers were lifting a hatch in the corner. They looked inside, a ladder lead downward into a narrow passage way.

"What is it?" The captain asked cautiously.

"An access tunnel, for technicians and electricians to work on the city's pluming and power utilities, these should lead us to anywhere in the sector… we just have to use them to get out of here so we can contact the king for help."

"Alright, but I want it scouted first… there's no telling what's down there."

"I've already sent Averiez and Milton down there, once they find a way out, they'll report back-"a loud crash was heard.

"they've broken through the front door!" a soldier exclaimed from the other room, several gunshots blasted.

"There is no time." Ilana said climbing down the hole.

"My lady, I must advise…" the head of security said.

"She's a brave, strong young woman… she can handle being first. Besides, Keaton, arguing with her is futile." Lance laughed climbing down, Keaton, the head of security followed with Jackson and Remis not far behind.

Lance set his boots down on the damp floor; the air was thick and cold. It was too dark to see more than two feet forward. "shh." He whispered, the group stood still, heavy clanks of metal boots thudded from the room above.

"Anything?" a raspy voice asked.

"No, they've disappeared, sir." Another responded.

The first voice sighed in frustration, "I want this entire building searched, if you find them… terminate, but bring me the princess and her captain alive… I have a score to settle…"

The boots clanked away, Remis climbed up the ladder and put his ear up to the closed trapdoor to listen. He listened for a moment, "I think they left."

Suddenly, the trapdoor flew open and a man with a gun stood looking down, without hesitation he pulled the trigger, Remis fell to the floor with a thud. Ilana gasped, Lance gently put his finger on her lips.

The voice said into the darkness, "I know the rest of you are down there, you can run, you can hide… but you can't escape, Lance. You can never escape…" He hadn't seen them, but they could see him… even if he had no eyes, Lance could know that voice anywhere… Baron Varus, the boy who tried to kill him so many years ago.

"Down the tunnels… quietly…" Lance whispered. Jackson stared at the boy, dead on the floor.

"What about Remis?" He asked, not taking his eyes off of his friend. "We can't just leave him."

"We have to, let's go." Lance said walking further. The boy didn't budge. "He's dead, there's nothing we can do for him, and unless you want all of us to end up like he did. We'd better move."

"Yes, sir." Jackson said holding back tears, he followed not far behind. He had noticeable trouble moving from his injury earlier. They'd been moving through the network for several minutes when they heard echoes of footsteps from behind.

"They're following us." Keaton said quietly.

"Which, is why we need to keep moving." Lance didn't stop his pace, Ilana kept up. Keaton stayed back with Jackson.

"Stop…hold on…" Jackson said, leaning against the wall. His wound had re-opened, blood was leaking out. Ilana stopped and took a bandage from Keaton's bag, she switched out the old ones and tightly placed on new, clean pairs. "I'm holding the group back…"

"Nonsense, we can't be far from another exit, we just have to keep moving." She said hopefully.

"Thank you, your highness… but your safety is the highest priority… and I'm compromising that… I think I should stay behind."

"We're not leaving you" she comforted. Being a kind, caring, and outgoing person was just in her _programing, _Lance admired that.

"With all due respect, I will stay here and hold them off… they know we're in the tunnels, I'm only holding you back… please, they killed my friend. I want to fight." Ilana stared into his bloodshot eyes; his face was bloody and tired. But yet, he was determined.

"Well… good luck, may the moons shine in your favor." She put her hand on his shoulder, Ilana stood up and moved on. Keaton followed shortly behind; Lance gave him a nod as the boy drew his pistol and hid behind an old supply cart.

They walked in the dark for a few more minutes, Lance had taken the lead. He swept his hand against the wall; the only sounds were the light _tip tap _of the group's boots. Lance noticed more noise coming from around the corner ahead. Lance slung the rifle onto his back and quietly approached the corner.

The barrel of a gun swung around, he grabbed it and pulled it away from the wielder. Using both hands, he gripped the man's arms, "Whoa, sir! Corporal Averiez reporting, friendly!" Lance let his grip down and handed back the rifle. The two soldiers Keaton had sent, Averiez and Milton stood before him.

"Did you find anything, soldier?" the captain asked.

"yes, sir. There is an exit at a local hardware store a few minutes from here."

"good." Sounds of shots being fired echoed through the tunnels from far behind. "Let's move."

After a short run, they arrived at another exit way, the trap door above was open. "I'll check it out first." Keaton said climbing up the ladder. Once he was up, there was silence for a moment. "Clear."

"After you, Ilana." Lance gestured for her to go. After she entered, he was next followed by Averiez and Milton. Lance climbed up, there were shelves of tools everywhere, the lights were out, the only source of vision they had was the scarce amount of moonlight that crept through the front windows.

"Building is clear, sir." Keaton reported, just as if on cue the windows shattered, glass flying everywhere. Shots started to fire, Lance instinctively ran towards Ilana, grabbing her and covering her with his own body. They hid behind a rack of power drills, the shooting stopped and footsteps entered the room.

"Stay here." Lance whispered. He peered around the corner, all of the soldiers lay dead and several of the attackers searched the room. _Averiez, Milton… both dead, but where was Keaton? _One of the men came from behind.

"Surrender." He pointed his gun at Ilana. Others came and surrounded them, lance raised his rifle, Ilana drew the pistol he'd given her. "Put down the weapons!" The couple did no such thing.

"you have three seconds…" a different voice entered the room, Keaton walked towards them.

"Traitor… you no good piece of garbage…" Lance hissed. Men came disarmed them, Keaton examined the pistol taken from Ilana.

"Why?" Ilana asked Keaton. "I trusted you, we trusted you. My father picked you up from the slum, you earned a place in the royal guard… even a living quarters in the palace… you had the high honor of replacing captain Jared Hobbes…"

"If you haven't noticed, I live to serve… and when the orders that men like me serve grow corrupt… they must be… replaced, by a greater one. I am only serving a different order; it is nothing personal, my darling." Keaton said as if he were royalty. Nose held high, not even making eye contact. He slipped the pistol into his holster for a personal souvenir.

"You do not address her in that fashion. May I remind you that your fantasy _order _does not exist, and the king rules this land." Lance gritted his teeth.

"That old buffoon's days are numbered. When the new order rises, he will be nothing but a footnote in a history book."

"My father is a hero." Ilana said softly containing either a shout or a cry.

"Was… the Mutraddi your father barely defeated were mindless beasts, our order will involve organized Galalunian minds... we'll see if he's a hero afterwards." Keaton walked in closer. "Dispose of the Captain and continue as planned."

Two men approached Lance, one pulled out a combat knife and lunged. Quickly, he grabbed the wrist of the attacker and sent a kick to his ribs. The soldier dropped the knife and kneeled on the floor, the next sent a punch aimed at the captain's jaw. Lance raised his arm outward and blocked the blow with his lower wrist.

With the attackers arm outward, only one was open to defend his body. Lance used the same hand to push that one away, and then unleashed several hits on his opponent's chest and gut. He darted his head towards Ilana, the rest of the men had her arms behind her back, she frantically kicked around to get free.

Two men grabbed her by her legs and towed her away by all four limbs; she repeatedly kicked her right foot into one of their jaws until it bled. _That's my girl. _Lance thought as he rushed in to help, he grabbed a man by the shoulders and yanked him away. Next, he swung an underhand blow towards a neighbor, he watched as he crumbled backwards.

He side kicked another in the back of the skull; two men pulled at Ilana's dress and forced her towards Keaton, who was waiting at a hover pod. The princess swung her elbow at the man on the left, then stomped her foot on the right grunt's shin.

Lance grabbed the last man's neck and slammed his forehead against a shelf, then ran towards Ilana. He grabbed a dueling sword from Milton's belt. "Fight me, coward!" Lance shouted to Keaton.

"Very well." He pulled out the stolen pistol and pulled the trigger, a loud blast echoed through the store. Lance looked down and saw fresh crimson blood staining his uniform.

"Lance!" Ilana screamed and ran towards him; Keaton grabbed her hair and struck her in the shoulder with the handle of the gun. Lance's vision had gone red; he laid on the floor on his chest and dragged himself towards the pod that Ilana was being loaded into.

"Ilana!" he shouted, the men that he crippled earlier got up and went for the pod, as they passed Lance they either kicked him in the ribs or spat on him. He shouted and struggled to get up; he swung the blade at the nearest man. He simply sidestepped and kicked the blade on the floor.

The man laughed as the others gathered around, he stomped his boot downward on Lance's knee, and pushed him down. "Hurry up! The law authorities are on their way." The driver on the pod shouted, the men left Lance on the ground. He struggled to grab hold of a nearby shelf, after a great hassle; he stood himself up and limped towards the exit.

Keaton's pod sped away, Lance moved himself out of the shop. Another blast was fired, the round impaled Lance's leg. He bit his lip and collapsed, crawling towards the direction the pod went and cursing Keaton, he dragged himself on the cold, hard cement for a few seconds until passing out.

**the next parts of the story will be focused on Lance finding Ilana, what happens to Ilana, and some conspiricies for control of Galaluna, stay tuned. and also, please check out my other stories, it'd mean a lot. (Science fair and Strike) don't hesitate to comment on what you think, any suggestions on what should happen next are greatly appritiated. questions/comments? anyways, hope you liked it, until next time!**


	2. demands

**important details shown here...**

Lance awoke in a bright room with white walls and grey tiles on the floor. He was lying on a soft, single bed with several monitors around him. His cloths had been changed, and his wounds bandaged. He moved to lean forward, sharp pain surged through his body. He groaned and laid back down, turning his head to look out the window to his right, he noticed he had a wonderful view of the capital city… one you could only get from the royal palace.

It suddenly sunk in what had happened before… Ilana was kidnapped, by a traitor… his friends… murdered… he needed to find Ilana. Gathering his strength, he pushed himself out of bed and leaned against the wall. His entire body fiercely protested against the sudden movement, but he continued.

A narrow, wooden door stood at the end of the room. Lance made his way towards it, only to find it opening. A large man with pointy white hair walked in, he was dressed in a dark black and brown suit, _the king._

"Lance…" he said in a deep, calm voice.

"Fredrick, sire." He responded, still leaning against the wall. The King wrapped his arm around his back, lance put his arm on his shoulders and they walked out of the room side by side. They sat down on a sofa outside the hall, paintings in gilded frames hung from the walls with beautiful red walls and white trimmed windows.

"Lance, son… I know this must be confusing, but I need you to tell me everything you know about the night we found you…" he said sitting next to the soldier.

"…okay, is… is Ilana?" he was afraid to know.

"She is missing, we know not of her whereabouts… we were hoping you might know."

"I don't know where she is… our convoy was ambushed, all of my men were killed… and Ilana was taken by… by a traitor… Doran Keaton… he and some group he talked about took her… I saw Baron Varus, one of ours from the corps… he gunned down one of my men." Lance said sipping a cup of _hot chocolate _he'd had imported from Earth, some habits just didn't die.

Fredrick took a cup too, "this Earth drink is very… rich, it is delightful."

Lance stared off "Ilana and I used to sit by the fire place and drink this stuff…"

"We'll get her back, son." He placed his hand on Lance's shoulder. "I found this in your jacket…" he handed him a velvet box, the ring Lance was going to propose to Ilana with.

"Thank you" he took it and stuffed the box in a pocket in his new cloths.

"It's a mighty fine ring, she'll love it." The king sighed.

"I hope so…"

. . .

Ilana's entire body ached, she opened her wary eyes scanned a dim, blurry cement room. Drops of water dripped from the ceiling, two men at a small wooden desk were listening to some electric music, they looked over at the girl as she gained consciousness. "princess is awake." One said as they approached, they wore dark black suits with a green patch on their right arms that depicted an eye of some sort. The same one Modula, the leader of the Mutraddi attack years ago had on his head piece.

The girl noticed she was strapped to a metal chair that was mounted to the ground by her hands and legs. She watched as they came closer, one had short brown hair and stubby after shave, the other had a full face helmet on so she couldn't identify any features. The brown haired man placed his rough hand on Ilana's cheek and smiled.

"Master was right, she is a very good looking woman… it's a shame to let that go to waste." He remained touching her face, she pulled away but he didn't stop.

"Who are you?" The princess asked trying to be intimidating and fearless, even though she was scared out of her mind. She couldn't help but remember when her and Lance were captured by G3, the galactic guardian group back on Earth. Their house was broken into in the middle of the night and she woke up in a strange facility with strange men, and even stranger technology.

"My name is Chester, and this is Winston." He said in a harsh, playful tone.

"Where am I?"

"In our captivity…" The masked man said.

"Now I think it's time you stop asking questions." Chester said taking his hand off of her cheek, and tugging at her nose. Ilana tried to kick his legs, but was only restrained by her anklets. "A feisty one… I like that…"

Chester leaning in closer and put his lips on hers, she jolter her head in the opposite direction. "What's wrong, I cleaned my mouth yesterday… is it your boyfriend? Don't you worry; he's not here… only us…" he teased.

"He'll be here soon, and Lance will rip your faces off." She commented.

"Yeah, okay. Unless you believe in ghosts, he's not coming back." Winston mocked. Ilana's heart sunk.

"No… you…" tears emitted from her eyes. The men laughed. "You monsters!" she thrashed around in her chair for a few minutes to get at them, they simply stood back and watched with amusement. After she realized that behavior was useless, she backed down and slouched in her chair.

"It hurts, doesn't it?" Chester asked "to have everything you work so hard to get so close to… taken away…"

"…what do you want?" Ilana asked in a quiet voice, she stared down at her bare feet on the cool, wet ground.

"…I trust you remember the war, the recent occupation?" he asked.

"Like the back of my hand…" the girl mumbled.

"You'd be surprised by the… interesting details you'd overlook… your… hand, might not be as familiar as you may think." Chester knew Ilana was famous around Galaluna for her habit of using Earth phrases and slang.

"How so?"

"Did you ever consider… that maybe the war had a purpose?"

"It was a mindless act of vengeance by a betrayer."

"Close… but completely wrong. With your victory, did you consider the defeat, the loss of your enemies?"

"…no, they were foolish to believe they could have Galaluna… the will of the people is too strong."

"Yeah, sure… but did it occur to you that that was intentional?"

"What are you talking about? You're insane…"

"Think about it… what could we possibly gain by ruling an entire mass of people that hated, and rebelled against us? No, but an attack so great that the entire planet was under siege and under a rule that the masses absolutely hated? Cruel, unreasoned rule… was intentional… they hated the mutraddi, and _the Betrayer, _as Lord Modula was referred to, so what would the people love? A group that could free them from this torment." Chester grinned. "And what group would that be?"

"The royal court and Galalunian military…" Ilana said puzzled.

"yes, and who rules that order?"

"my father…"

"Correct, people remember the courts and armies that freed them… the council, all of these things the people love and commit loyalty to… because after all, they freed them from Modula…"

"So?"

"So… these great orders are ruled by one man, your father… the people have loyalty to the orders, not specifically your father… they will not rebel." Winston explained.

"of course not, the army is good the people and the council is funding the reconstruction of the city… my father is noble, the people trust him. "

"Yes, but if the heroic councils and armies were ruled by a new man, would the people notice? They'd still get their buildings and their protection, yes?" Chester paced around Ilana's chair.

"How do you plan on doing that? The courts are loyal to my father, the rightful King…" Ilana said in disgust to their plan.

"And so was the Galalunian army to Modula before he betrayed everyone…"

"My father would never betray his people…" She said angered.

"It doesn't matter what he will or will not do, as long as the people believe it, it is true."

"How do you plan on doing this?"

"You'll see…" Chester smiled and took a long needle out of his coat pocket. He pierced Ilana's arm, her vision swayed, the walls seemed to melt and she blacked out.

. . .

"Sire, there is an incoming transmission, it concerns the current situation on you daughter." A man in a purple guard uniform said kneeling before the King and Lance.

"Excellent, bring it up at once." The king ordered. Three men brought a monitor into the room and switched it on before leaving.

An image of a dim room appeared, two masked men stood by each side of a girl restrained in a metal chair. She had a cloth sewn bag over her head. "Good day, your highness…" one of the men said.

"Where is my daughter?" the king demanded.

"Pleasure to meet you too…" he said sarcastically.

"I want your demands and I want proof that the princess is alive and healthy." The man to the left pulled the bag off of the girls head, surely, it was Ilana. She was unconscious; he waved a scanner over her chest.

"Heartbeat is steady, blood flow normal… now let's talk demands… I suggest you take notes. We politely request twenty million universal credits, that all law enforcement and military personnel are shut down for seven hours for our relocation, and a delivery of twenty Areus marks of active H7 explosives. You will deliver this to us at a location which will be privately announced shortly. You will come only with the necessary crew for transporting the items, two personal guards, an advisor, and an explosives expert. If you cooperate, we will all see that your daughter is returned safely"

The man walked over to Ilana "there will be no mention of this deal, when we exchange and you have the princess back you will tell the council and anyone concerned that you and a task force infiltrated our base and rescued your daughter. If you do not comply, we will take her life. Your palace has been bugged and we have eyes making sure you do not leave until the deal is to take place, no word is to get out, you tell no one of our demands, no record of your withdraws will be taken, no discussion on the subject will be made… failure to comply will result in penalty of her death. Do I make myself clear?"

"yes…" Fredrick responded trying to process what had just happened; Lance had jotted the demands on a sheet of paper.

"good." Suddenly, the screen went blank. A technician entered the room.

"Sire, all communications are down within the palace. Recording software for your conversation has been neutralized. We have a team working on getting the systems running." The king nodded, and the man left the room.

"We'll play along with this, play it safe. No word to anyone else… I'll start working to meeting their demands, their ability to hack into our communications array shows they are fully capable of bugging the palace. They may be listening to are every word… lay low until they announce the location…" the king said.

"Understood…" Lance said, he hadn't seen hacking skills like that since the Mutraddi invasion when they disabled communications planet wide. Fredrick went off to discuss a personal withdraw with his accountant. Lance went to stand by the window. He looked off at the city, Ilana loved gazing off into the buildings… he knew they needed to do what they wanted in order to get her back, but he had a bad feeling about her captures… they were too organized. He didn't like that.

**more info on the "bad guys" plans coming soon, please comment :)**


	3. evil eye

**What is the evil plan? well, read and find out... will lance finally get Ilana back? read it! hurry. :)**

It had been two weeks since the men contacted them on terms on Ilana's kidnapping, Fredrick had gathered all of their demands, twenty million universal credits, twenty Areus marks of active H7 explosives, and he was prepared to shut down all law enforcement and military personnel for seven hours as soon as they got the call on where to meet for the exchange.

Just like the captures demanded, they told no one, recorded nothing, and did not speak of the deal… it killed Lance, not speaking meant he couldn't help. He'd lay awake, restless for hours very late at night worrying about Ilana. Wondering if it would all work out, and he could finally marry the girl of his dreams. She'd come home and they could live the life they'd both dreamed of forever. The life she deserved, he hoped he'd have the chance to give it to her.

He knew if anything happened to her, he'd never forgive himself. He'd never let himself forget the night they took her away, and he watched helplessly as they sped off and he wallowed in pain. He wished he could have acted more quickly and stopped Keaton, and saved her before any of this even happened.

Lance was standing on the balcony in Ilana's room; the brisk night air blew down his shirt collar. He heard footsteps and the door creaking open, Fredrick stood beside him. "Lance, it is time. They called several minutes ago. I am bringing Octus as my advisor and I'd like you to accompany me as my guard… everything is loaded up and ready to go."

"Let's bring her home." Lance slipped on his new combat uniform, and they headed off to the transports outside. Two large shipping units and a commoner's hover pod awaited.

"Octus." Lance greeted the robot that he lived on Earth with for many years; he hadn't seen him since they returned home. The robot was in charge of the capitals defense, he'd been moved to a base somewhere in town.

"Hello, Lance." He greeted, the robot had obviously been upgraded. His form was no longer a bulky, wide shape. But actually resented a slim human, he still had the same blue energy body but it was shaped differently now. The machine itself that contained his programing was now a lot smaller and more compact, before it had a sphere form, now it was a smaller oval the size of Lance's palm.

"We'd better be moving." Fredrick said, Lance nodded and they all got into the pod. They drove for about five minutes to the central market place in the capital city. The king examined the location, "They picked a rather odd location, this area will be swarming with people by morning. I would have thought they'd pick somewhere less conspicuous."

Several men approached from inside a building. Guns locked on the car "come out with your hands up!" a man in a black mask shouted. Everyone stepped out, the men lowered their weapons and a man walked forward.

"Ah, Fredrick… I am pleased with your wise decision… all law enforcement and military units are shut down and I see you've brought gifts. Very good." The man said, he took off his helmet. Keaton.

" where is my daughter?" he asked.

"yes, she is hidden, just in case you were to show without our demands. Bring your guards; I'll take you to her." Keaton set off alone, the king followed, Lance and another guard trailed along.

"so, what do you plan to do with your ransom?" The king asked. He didn't answer; they approached a small, abandoned warehouse. Keaton unlocked the door, the group went in. The room was empty.

"What is this?" Fredrick asked frustrated. Suddenly, in the distance a loud explosion was set off. Keaton stayed inside as the other three rushed out to investigate. A huge inferno blasted above the town. "no, they just blew up the market place!"

"No sir, the explosion is far west… that's the city bank." The guard said, all three stood puzzled, as if on cue they all ran towards the market. Lance was told to stay behind with Keaton.

When they arrived, the money and the explosives were there, untouched. "What?" the king asked himself.

He opened up the storage car, the H7 was all there. "Your highness, I am going to have to ask you to step down." A voice said from behind. The old man turned around, Baron Varus stood with a group of royal guards.

"Baron, good… I don't know what-"

"Your majesty, under the people of Galaluna you are being placed under arrest."

"For what charges?"

"Treason against the nation, possession of explosives used in destroying the bank of the people, and attempt in escaping with money stolen from it. Corrupt use of power is not tolerated under the law; your attempt to disable the authorities to get away with this will be noted in court."

"What? No, this is not what it seems!"

"Sire, with the three moons _Geaus, Areus_, and _Raeus_ as my witnesses, I am hereby placing you under arrest…" Baron slapped a pair of cuffs on his wrists, other guards took him away. Baron walked into a nearby building, "everything is going according to plan, my lord. The king has just been arrested, he will no doubt be dethroned… we are still in position of the princess, and are ready for phase two of the plan."

"Good" a deep voice said. "now that the King is out of the way, the throne will go the next available heir… Captain Lance… who undeniably risk this power for his beloved Ilana back… soon, Galaluna will be ours."

Baron left the room, the only thing to be seen in the dark building was the bright light green glow of a large, evil eye.

**Man, complex... the king just got framed and will be dethroned, no longer king... everything ties together, and who's evil eye is it? hmm... **

**explaination (if needed)**

**so the king had to keep everything secret, so no one knew it was for a deal that he had money and explosives. the bad guys blew up the bank, the authorities find the king with packed explosives and money (which wasn't recorded for withdrawl) so it looks like he robbed the bank and told all the authorities to stand down a head of time. they find him opening a crate of explosives and money (which were not unpacked so it looks like he was escaping) and baron (who is in on the framing) arrests him. Lance asked the king's permission to marry Ilana before the story started, who is the sole heir to the throne, but is missing. so lance will inherit it, what do our evil doers have planned for him? i'll update as soon as possible, plz review :)**


	4. dishonored

** this chapter reveals more on the evil people's plan...**

"Lord Fredrick, we have reviewed the evidence… you were found one week ago in possession of H7 explosives, which were used in the destruction of the bank of the people. Caught red handed in an escape attempt with twenty million universal credits… corrupt use of power, how do you plead?" a judge said in the city court, Lance watched as the King stood before several men dressed in cloaks.

"Not guilty, your honor…"

"How so?"

"I was set up…"

"Do you have any proof of this?"

"…no, I do not."

"Then this is a valid impeachment, Baron Varus… please come to the stand…" a man with light blonde hair walked up, his long pointy nose held high. Lance couldn't believe it, he saw Baron firsthand, he was one of the betrayers.

"Your honor, Baron Varus is not fit to testify in this case. He is an active member of the group that ambushed the princess Ilana's convoy." Lance interrupted, whispers flooded through the crowd of spectators.

"That is a ridiculous accusation… on what grounds do you stand, Captain?" Baron asked. Galalunian tradition allowed immediate retaliation at even the slightest attack on one's honor. Lance and Baron stood only a pace away from each other now.

"Don't play games, Baron… I saw you that night; you killed one of my men… your one of the betrayers…"

"What proof of this do you have?" Baron asked.

"…none, but it is the truth… I give my word…" Lance said, the crowd gasped astonished, in Galalunian culture, if he gave his word to an accusation like that, and he was wrong, then Baron had the right to all of his social positions… Lance's reputation would be destroyed and Baron would become Captain of the military corps.

"Are you sure?" the judge asked, if he was wrong, he'd become a simple commoner. All of his money, his honor, his positions… Lance knew to full extent, but he would bet his life on that accusation. But if he was wrong, somehow… he wouldn't even be allowed to talk to Ilana if she was returned home.

"…yes" Lance responded.

"Very well, Baron Varus… your testimony will have to wait until further notice… Captain, you are bound by your honor to use your full capabilities to prove your claim… this court session will resume after further notice…" the judge pounded a mallet on the table, the courts emptied out.

Lance walked out alone, he heard whispers in the crowd, "…Captain Lance, did you see how quickly he defended the King? I don't think I'd feel comfortable with him ruling when the King is impeached… I think he's involved in the robbery…"

Another man whispered back "Agreed, and such a foolish accusation… I think the man cracked after being on Earth so long, hopefully Baron will take position if he proves unworthy. I'd trust him as king… after all; he was a head freedom fighter in the war not long ago… you know, my son fought under his commands, said Baron was the bravest, most noble man he'd ever met."

Lance walked on, more whispers "Lance is done, there is no way Baron would betray Galaluna, after everything he's fought for… the captain on the other hand, he was on Earth for a long time… pretty primitive culture there… I think it messed him up."

More men talked, "the king, I can't believe he would act under such corruptness… twenty million credits, that money should be used in rebuilding schools, and homes…"

Another spectator replied. "he probably blew up the bank after they told him that's where the money was going… it's a good thing Baron caught him, or he may have gotten away with it… Baron's a good man; he'll no doubt gain the social class he deserves when that fool Lance fails to meet his accusation…"

A third agreed. "yes, the war definitely changed the King… I remember when he was a good ruler… now, I don't know… and his daughter, I heard she's been skipping through beds to get the Captain higher positions… I mean how does a Corporal gain so much social status in a few years? My nephew has been in the service his whole life and he's only a lieutenant…" Lance caught the part with Ilana, he immediately walked over to the man.

"What did you say about the princess?" Lance said almost strangling the man.

"It's the captain…" whispers said through the crowd, the man Lance was talking to stood firm.

"I… sir, I was just telling some friends about what I heard… don't throw me in prison, sir… I got a wife and kids to feed…" the man said. The crowd mumbled.

"seems like he'll make a damn good king, I don't know what the man he's talking to said… but it looks like he was going to strangle him… imagine what he'll do if you don't vote for his laws when he inherits the throne…" a woman whispered.

"Ilana… is pure woman. And I gained this position after serving in her protection… I suggest you worthless street trash talk about something else." Lance gritted through his teeth, code required he defended Ilana's honor when she wasn't around, he left the scene.

"Worthless street trash?" the crowd mumbled. Baron walked out of the court, the crowd happily greeted him.

"Baron, did you see what just happened?" a woman asked.

"Unfortunately yes, my good lady…" he said, the crowd took note of his kindness.

"Some guy was talking about how Lance got to be a captain so quickly, and he just blew up on the poor guy…" a man brought up, the crowd didn't acknowledge the insult on Ilana.

"yes, how Lance came to power I know not… but it does seem that he will be gaining much more, considering he will inherit the throne once Fredrick is taken out of office…" Baron said acting extremely kind.

"I think you'd make a better king, you've earned your honor in fighting against the monstrous Mutraddi!" a man told Baron.

He smiled at the feedback "well, I must say… I have no intent of gaining the throne… but if that is what the people desire, I will take it with honor and pride…" the crowd started cheering compliments.

"My good people, I am running late for a charity event and must be moving… I look forward to further discussion later… the moons will watch with anticipation for the outcome of these strange events…" the crowd cheered as he got into a pod. As soon as they were far away, Baron looked the man sitting beside him. "My lord, everything is going according to plan… Lance has challenged me and the people look to my favor… soon Galaluna will be ours…"


	5. Underground

A whole month had passed and Lance was staring to grow impatient… he searched the slums of Galaluna in hope of finding proof that Baron was working with Ilana's captures, he searched the area that the ambush took place, he'd even talked to Baron's friends and family… but still found nothing. He was hoping that along the way he'd find something that would tell him a clue to where Ilana might be.

He hadn't seen her in forever, and that ate away at his being. No demands, no anything had come through about her. He didn't even know if she was alive anymore… it appeared she was a part in framing the king, bait for him to bring the explosives and money… but did they need her anymore? He didn't like to think about it, that they may have simply disposed of her… he tried to convince himself that they still needed her alive in whatever plan they had.

The thought of her possible death made him sick, his chest ached and his body grew weak at the simple mention of her name.

He walked down a small narrow road with tall buildings to both sides. The fog had rolled in, he wondered around aimlessly. "Haven't seen a noble here in ages…" a man said from behind.

"I'm not all that surprised." Lance turned around, a man wearing a torn red jacket royal and tattered street leggings. He had a tired square face and short white hair.

"I've heard about the current situation… with the princess… your challenge with Baron Varus…" he said.

"Really, good to know the newspaper system still works here." Lance said wondering where the old man got the royal jacket.

"I can help you…" the old man offered.

"How so?" Lance was starting to get interested, but he didn't come close to trusting the man.

"Meet me here tonight at 7:00 and I'll bring you to a meeting of the eyes…" he said "Baron will be there, so will the princess… come alone in street clothes, arm yourself inconspicuously…"

"Why are you helping me?"

"…let's just say I'd like to help a mutual friend of ours…" The man said.

"I didn't catch your name…"

"Hobbes, Jared Hobbes." The old man stepped back into a dark alley way, Lance went to follow but the he was gone.

. . .

Lance waited where Hobbes had told him to; he leaned against the wall of a nearby building. The only light was coming from the three moons above; the cold air swept his face. Lance put on some of his old Earth clothes, a dark blue denim jacket, blue jean, and his old cap that he picked up on the road when he and Ilana were on the run after Octus' temporary death. He wore a hoodie underneath the jacket so his face was completely covered, on his wrist was the Manus watch… his primary weapon on Earth, which he didn't think he'd ever use again.

"Glad you could make it." Hobbes said, sneaking up from nowhere. He had the same pants on, but he wore a grey hooded cloak instead of the military jacket.

"Yeah, so you know where Ilana's captures are meeting tonight?"

"yes, the eyes… an underground organization… they're rallying tonight, come… I'll show you where." Hobbes walked off and signaled for Lance to follow. They walked for around half an hour until they reached an old tavern in the nicer part of town. They walked in, he nodded to the bartender, "_eye see_ you've improved the place."

"Yes, come in the back…" he ushered them into the room behind the counter area. A staircase that lead downward was the only thing in the room. "The eye sees, brother." The man said

Hobbes and Lance ventured downward. When they were out of ears length, lance asked "how did you know that code?"

"I used to work for these people… well I still do, but I don't support their actions anymore. The eyes started out as an organization after the war that worked for getting fair treatments to those who served Modula, they thought that many of his loyalists and supporters only followed him out of fear… and deserved a place back in society. I agreed with that until they started moving to remove the King, and start a new order… that was when they showed their true colors… as violent, deceptive people… instead of rational protestors." He explained. "Once they kidnapped the princess, and moving to dethrone the king. I started gathering information to take them down; I still have allegiance to the royal family… before we were just an activist movement for political changes… now, these people want war."

The two walked in silence for a moment through some tunnel networks. "We're here." Hobbes said, they entered a giant underground room. Banners with pictures of eyes hung everywhere. Lance guessed the room used to be a subway station in _new world _the part of the city that was built above the wreckage of a destroyed district. Underground stations like these would be abandoned.

The room was crowded with people, a large stage rested in the center of the area. Crowds cheered as two men walked up, Keaton was one of them. The other was a man wearing a similar headpiece that Modula had, a tall hat with a green eye in the middle. A visor dropped over his face, so he could get identification. All he could see was a familiar well groomed brown mustache, Lance couldn't remember where he'd seen it before.

"Brothers! The eye sees!" Keaton shouted.

"The eye sees all!" The crowd shouted out.

"Among us, are our very most trusted supporters as we begin the noble quest to remove the old, faulty rule… and usher in our newer, more perfect era!" the crowd burst into applause. "One without corruption, a movement for equality and prosperity… the old king's time is done."

Another man walked up to the stage, Baron… "My friends, our time is approaching. By your side, I will rule Galaluna, and we will prosper!" Lance started recording with his Manus watch. Taking pictures and video of Baron, a hand was placed on his shoulder.

"What do you think you're doing?" a big, bulky man asked.

"Um…"

"Come with me." he said, Hobbes shook his head as Lance reached to activate his armor.

"There are too many people here…" he whispered as a few guards escorted them into another room. They stood in a small blue tiled supply room; a man with short brown hair in a grey jacket approached them.

"So, boys… why are these folks here?" he asked the men.

"Caught this one taking pictures…" the man from before said.

"Ah, yes that is very… unacceptable." Lance hid his face under the bill of his hat. "oh my, how rude of me… I'm Chester…"

Chester extended his hand, Hobbes shook it first, then Lance. As he shook, Chester examined his Manus watch.

"Where'd you get your wrist watch?" Chester asked.

"…a friend gave it to me after the war" he lied, still hiding his face.

"Funny… do you mind?" Chester asked, examining the watch.

"Go ahead…" Lance agreed, still looking down. Chester fiddled with the watch for a moment, suddenly a hologram of a small group of two armored robots appeared. A video from the view of the Manus robot streamed, Lance crept his eyes up to watch.

"Enough! Octus, form Titan!" A male voice shouted.

"What about the soldiers?" a woman asked, the trio fought beside the royal guards in the city streets in a battle torn city. Mutraddi beasts ran at them, and some humanoids shot rifles at their position. A giant mega beast stood in the lake not far from the palace.

"Us, along with all of them will die… and our return to Galaluna will be for nothing! Form Titan and draw the creature away from the city."

"Go, we will be fine! We must push forward to the palace before the betrayer can escape!" a soldier said firing off more rounds downrange.

"Engaging Sym-Bionic Titan…" A light blue robot announced. Rays surrounded the Manus wielder, as well as the woman in the _Corus_ suit. The Suit started to be taken apart, and reassembled within the robot, as the_ Titan _formed. Chester stopped the video. Unannounced, he swiped off Lance's cap.

"Borrowed from a friend?" Chester showed a somewhat maniacal grin. "Restrain them! Baron will want to talk to the captain."

A man walked towards Lance, he lunged to grab with both hands. Lance clasped both hands together, shot them in between his attacker's wrists and pulled them away from each other. His hands pushed the enemy's outward, leaving his body exposed.

With the new advantage, the Captain let lose several punches to his chest and ribs. Another grunt threw a punch at his face; he raised his arm and deflected the blow. Lance's knuckles flew into his jaw and knocked him flat with one blow. A fist flew at his side, before he could defend himself; a pair of burly hands grabbed it from the side.

Hobbes had grabbed the attacker's wrist; he launched his elbow into his forehead, then side kicked another man. One more grunt remained; Hobbes and Lance ran towards him. They both kicked at once, Hobbes went low, Lance with high.

"Hold it right there!" The duo turned around to find Chester holding a long silver handgun to their faces. Lance stood still, for a moment they all remained motionless.

"You were once a proud service to the greater good of Galaluna, I dedicated my later life to serving the Eyes… this has gone too far." Hobbes broke the peace, and ran forward. He grabbed Chester's wrist and sent a fierce back hand at his jaw. The brown haired man fell to the floor; Hobbes held him there by the shoulder and sent a blow at his left cheek.

Chester grabbed his wrist when he went in for a second blow, he used his other hand to hold Lance's friend by the neck. His leg moved on Hobbes' chest, and kicked up. He fell backwards, Chester jumped on top, Hobbes punched his gut and sent a combo with an upper cut to the temple.

Chester stumbled back and Hobbes stood up. Both raised their arms and asked for more. Hobbes sent the first punch, his opponent deflected it and sent his free hand forward, Hobbes' caught it. Chester kneed the older man in the gut; he leaned forward with the wind knocked out of him. Chester slammed both fists down onto his back.

Lance stood, wanting to help… but that wasn't his fight. Chester went to the man's back and wrapped his arms around Hobbes' throat and squeezed hard enough to turn his face red. "The eyes may have taken a more aggressive approach… but that is necessary, if you do not… see eye to eye with us, then I'm afraid you know too much of our organization."

Chester pulled out a black switch blade, a shiny blade popped out of the hilt. He swung the knife downward into Hobbes' gut, the old man shouted out in pain. He grabbed Chester's arm and twisted it until he let go of the knife. When the man loosened his grip, Hobbes pushed him back with his body, quickly pulling the blade out of his body, he threw the knife at Chester's wrist… and watched as it impaled his arm.

As he groaned, the older man swung his boot against the man's face, knocking him out cold. "come on, we must go!" Hobbes groaned, holding his wound. Lance ran over to help him walk, the two walked out of the room and into the crowd, the audience didn't pay full attention to them. Although an occasional bystander would give them an odd look.

As soon as they walked out of the building, the bartender from before came to let them out "what happened?"

"No time, we need to use your car…" Lance said.

"What? Is…" he buffered.

"We need to get him to a hospital! Can we use your car?" Lance demanded. The bartender stood awestruck for a moment, after a short consideration, he handed over a set of keys.

"take it, it's the third on to the left… it's a ground model, doesn't fly… you'll have to take the streets…"

"Thank you." Lance grabbed the keys and helped Hobbes out. He counted three cars to the left and spotted an old red land cruiser, similar to Earth vehicles. "Let's go, I'll bring you back to the palace."

They drove down the dark roads for a few minutes, Hobbes had passed out a few times, Lance had to make him and order him to keep pressure on the wound. About a quarter way back to the palace, Lance noticed four shiny orange cars trailing him. For a spit second he flashed back to his street racing days back on Earth with Mike Chan.

He remembered how Mike and his gang harassed him seemingly whenever he used his car. Lance looked in his rearview mirror to see the cars fanning out, looking more closely he noticed the drivers all had patches depicting _the eye. _"Pull over or we start shooting!" a man shouted, holding a black assault rifle shouted.

Lance kept a steady pace for several seconds, "that's it! Open fire!" another commanded. Rounds fired at their car, the bullets whizzed past the car, occasionally denting the back and sides. Luckily for Lance, the bullets were standard rounds, unlike the military grade energy rifles. They only fired metal bullets, more simplistic and cheaper to make and maintain.

Suddenly, Lance hit the brakes and the car halted to a stop, his pursuers zoomed past him. Quickly, he started up the engines and turned left into an alternate road. The eye drivers turned around and followed.

"Hobbes, check the dashboard for weapons!" Lance commanded keeping eyes on the road. The wounded man opened up a small cabinet and looked through it.

"I found a handgun! And a pack of smokes!" He announced.

"Good, get ready to shoot!" Lance said eyeing a right turn ahead, the eyes were down the road behind them. Lance made a sharp right turn and stopped, Hobbes' side now faced the approaching cars. "Now!"

Without delay, Hobbes fired off his rounds with pinpoint accuracy, shooting down two of the drivers through the windshields and their passengers. Lance sped forward as the remaining two cars turned to pursuit.

"How many shots you got left?" Lance asked driving at full speed.

"Five." Hobbes counted, re-inserting the magazine. Lance looked ahead to a tunnel that passed under a large hill. Tunnel had no lighting sources and was completely dark except for Lance's headlights. Sure enough, the eyes followed him in. Looking ahead, he saw that the tunnel split into two paths, leaving a column in between the two roads.

"Shoot out their head lights!" Lance ordered, Hobbes stuck his body out of the window and fired all of his rounds, he missed the first shot but landed the others enough to destroy the bulbs, Lance turned his off and turned left. The tunnel was completely dark; he heard the first car crashing into the column and then the second one crashing into its rear.

The sound of crunching metal echoed through the passage. After a short drive, they found the exit which came out a few minutes from the palace. Lance took an alternate route to avoid being seen on the main road, his reputation didn't need any more dents.

They pulled up to the bridge outside the palace and walked the rest of the way, the guard gave them a worried look as they stood by the gate to enter, but let them in without question. Hobbes was recognized by other palace inhabitants, and was escorted to the medic's office immediately. After an hour or so, the medic told Lance that his friend would have to stay in the office overnight.

Lance nodded and left for his room, he viewed over the evidence he'd taken, which would no doubt be enough to win his accusation against Baron, and cripple whatever plans they had. He had to keep fighting, the Eyes planned nothing but evil, and he would take them down, for Ilana.


	6. Duel

"Sir, we have a problem…" Baron said nervously.

"What might that be?" A shadowy man asked with his back turned, the green eye on his headpiece glowing.

"…Lance has… gained photographic evidence of my participation with the eye…"

"How?" The deep voice asked.

"Somehow, he got into our secret rally… if he exposes this…"

"Don't… he will not, this challenge needs to take place, and you need to gain the throne for our plans to work. Challenge him to a duel, to the death… you will inherit the throne once you defeat him."

"How will I get him to accept it? We need something to offer him…" Baron asked.

"Oh, he will accept the terms…" The man slid a picture across the table, Baron picked it up… it was the princess, her hair was a mess and her eyes were sad and tired. She sat in a small room with only a bed, a toilet, and a small opening for food.

"…my lord, if we give her back… there will be no leverage on the royal family…" Baron said puzzled.

"it is not a return notice… it is a… insurance offer… if he wins, we will not kill her… he will no doubt accept your challenge." The man laughed, Baron let out a small chuckle.

"very well, I will have my saber prepared… the court rooms do not open until this afternoon, he cannot present the evidence until then. I shall challenge him before then." The blonde boy said walking out.

. . .

"Captain, sir! A message for you was received this morning… it is a challenge, a duel, sir." A soldier in the red combat uniform reported. Lance was already up, and was going through pictures of himself and Ilana. In his hands he held a photograph of their first harvest festival together as a couple. Ilana wore a beautiful orange, brown, and red dress while Lance had a rather low profile tuxedo with a light brown colored vest. Everything around them matched the bright theme. Ilana's head rested on his arm and their hands intertwined.

For a moment he forgot the guard was there, and he could feel Ilana against him. "Who is the challenger?" Lance finally asked switching to another photo, one taken on Earth of the two at their dinner table in their house in Sherman. Ilana proudly showed off a report card that had straight A+'s, where Lance sat beside her with a less enthusiastic approach, he held a sheet of paper with one hand, the other was holding up his face.

_History: D- Science: D- Math: D- P.E.: A+ Spanish: D- English: D- _

Lance smiled at the picture; he looked at Ilana's beautiful face as she showed her grades almost ecstatically. His mood dropped when the guard named his challenger. "Baron Varus, sir… he requested a duel of swords… his offers have been sent privately, in a separate envelope." He said handing Lance a folded paper.

"Thank you." Lance said, the guard left he opened the letter. His eyes widened as he read through the print.

_…challenge that in your defeat you hand over your inheritance to the throne of Galaluna, in return, if you are successful… then you may rest assured that your dear princess will remain breathing and healthy. If you should decline, we will kill Ilana. Meet in capital square at noon with a standard dueling blade and your lawyer. It will be a fight to the death with optional mercy rule. Tell no one of these terms, it will be announced as a duel on private terms, do not worry, there will still be an audience to watch you suffer…_

Lance swore under his breath as he found a picture of Ilana in the envelope, she was in a small room and she looked as if she were about to break. He looked at the clock, four hours to prepare. Lance looked through his closet and grabbed his combat jacket. He reached further in and grabbed his dueling sword that had been a gift from the king, it had mid length, single edged blade and a gilded hand guard with a fine leather stitched hilt.

After his gear was ready, he went to the dining room where the servants prepared an energy rich meal. He later went into the courtyard to stretch and warm up; he even had a few friendly sparring matches with some of the guards. Which no doubt, he defeated easily.

After a few hours of sparring with dulled blades, he walked to the capital square. His heart racing, he struggled to contain the anxiety, he hadn't fought with Baron since they were kids when they destroyed the military academy in Manus armors. He had undeniably become more skilled over time, he feared if Baron had too.

He kept a picture of Ilana in his coat pocket as well as the ring he was going to propose to her with for good fortune. He approached the square; a large area on the concrete had been cleared out. Baron waited, sitting on a fruit basket talking to some villagers. A car parked nearby, Lance's lawyer had come as instructed.

Baron approached with his advisor, all four men shook hands. "I believe my client, Baron, has challenged your client, Lance to a duel…"

"Indeed, under terms of social ranks, yes? Baron will take Lance's position to inherit the throne if he dominates, and if he is to defeat Baron, his name will be cleared of any previous dishonors by Baron in past events…" Lance's lawyer said. It was clear that nobody was aware that he only accepted the duel because of their threat to Ilana.

"Yes, now duelers… the terms are a duel of swords… sabers only… no secondary weapons , sidearms, or multipurpose blades. Standard dueling swords only, are we clear?"

"Yes." Both Baron and Lance said at once.

A new man stepped in, a hired judge to make sure the rules were followed. "Mercy rule is active; otherwise it is a fight to the death. Remember, your honor is at stake here… the most important thing you leave behind on this world, win or lose you both fought bravely… may the moons shine in you favors…"

Lance and Baron both stood on opposite sides of the clearing, the sky was grey and overcast. The wind softly blew, Lance's hair flowed. "Wish me luck…" He said to himself, patting the picture and ring in his pocket. A good sized crowd had gathered to watch.

"Draw your Blades!" the judge said. Lance pulled his royal sword; Baron pulled a similar one with an odd green hilt. Lance assumed it had to do with the eye, but many duelers had customized sabers.

"Ready yourselves…" Lance's heart pounded, he took a deep breath to keep his body from shaking.

"Fight!" He shouted, Baron took the aggressive approach and swung his blade first. With his right hand he sent it flying downward. Lance swung his upward to redirect the attack, he lunged in only to be blocked.

The two stepped back, Lance spun his sword around by flicking his wrist. "You're going down, Baron…" Lance gritted through his teeth.

"After you." He said simply, holding his long nose high. Lance swung his blade again, Baron deflected. Both of their blades together, Lance kicked his foot forward at Baron's shin, he stepped back. The blonde pushed down and shoved Lance's sword to the ground, although his still had hold of it, his body was exposed.

Baron swung an under hand, Lance quickly ducked and swung his sword up. His opponent met the attack with a downward swing. Lance was at his knees, and he knew it was a bad position. He stuck out his leg and spun around, hitting Baron's legs and tripping him.

They both stood up and returned to their defensive positions. Lance charged first, underhand… blocked. Baron lunged, Lance side stepped and swung the blade at his opponent's neck. Baron ducked and barrel rolled away.

Lance swung his blade while he was getting up, Baron deflected it, drew back his sword and swung. The Captain quickly launched his weapon upwards to defend the attack, he used both hands and swung the sword like a baseball bat. Baron jumped back and lunged again, this time Lance swung arm in, so his bicep rested at his chest, and his sword extended over his shoulder.

With Baron's blade away from his center, the Captain swung his blade backhanded and slashed Baron's right arm. He then raised it above his head and swung it down. Baron had the time to deflect the blow, he kicked Lance's knee and stumbled back.

The wounded man examined his arm, "Lucky for you, Baron… I'm also left handed." Lance said tossing up his blade and catching it with the opposite hand.

"Heck, I was just using my right for you." Baron said switching. Lance swung his blade inward, then backhanded, and finally inward. Baron defended against them, he swung the tip of his blade at the area closest to the hilt of Lance's, his arm flew back. Baron swung a blow at Lance's stomach, he darted back, only cutting a hole in his uniform.

In response, Lance swung his blade upward and knocked Baron's sword out of his hands, it flew on the floor and slid out of reach. Lance pointed his blade at the disarmed opponent and moved over to his dropped sword. With his free hand, he picked it up and handed it to a bystander. He then handed his own saber to another man.

"I'll need that later." Lance said walking back to Baron, raising his fists. "Let's get dirty."

Baron grinned and kicked high up, Lance turned and blocked it with both palms. After the kick, he sent a punch flying, Lance blocked with the side of his arm and sent his other hand forward at Baron's Jaw. After a pleasant hit, he sent his other hand at Baron's gut. Then spun a full three hundred and sixty degree spin and kicked his chest.

The man fell back, some members of the crowd caught his as he stumbled backwards. The blonde spit out some blood and walked back in. He swung a fist at Lance's face, just as he was about to block the attack, Baron withdrew the swing and used the same arm to push Lance's away. He grabbed the Captain's other arm and pushed it away.

With both of Lance's arms outward, he unleashed a storm of quick punches topped off with a kick to Lance's chin. He fell back onto the floor, without any further delay, Baron jumped on his chest and continued to attack while he was down.

Lance put both of his arms over his face to deflect the attacks. After a few more swings, Lance caught Baron's arm and pushed him over to the side so he was on top on. He swung a punch at Baron's lower jaw and then grabbed his throat so his was upright again. He tightened his grip, Baron pounded his fists against Lance's ribs, he ignored the pain and continued to strangle.

With all of his force, Baron stood up and pushed Lance away, not enough to trip him. But enough to make him stumble back. Baron sent a straight punch at Lance, he caught the blow, the blonde sent another which was easily caught.

Baron jumped up and kicked with both of his legs, Lance stumbled back. A man shouted at Baron and tossed him his blade. Baron held the sword and rushed at Lance, whose sword was on the other side. The sword swung in many directions, Lance couldn't block or catch it, so he evaded the best he could. A few times his opponent got the best of him and cut his leg of arm.

Baron swung a low swing at lance's hips; he quickly jumped over the sword. Landed, then leaped over Baron's head, throwing his legs forward to pull off a front flip on the way over. He landed on the ground and held out his hand, a middle aged man tossed him the blade.

With his blade in his hands again, he swung the edge at Baron's back, who quickly spun around to block the attack. Lance sent another attack and knocked Baron's sword to the ground, he kicked the sword away and extended his own at baron's neck. "It's over…" Lance said.

Baron stood helpless, he'd been beat. "Very impressive… your princess will be safe…" he said.

"I want proof…" Lance said.

"You may contact her with this…" he tossed him a small silver communicator, Baron's advisor picked up his sword and they left.

"Take me to the palace; I have a call to make." Lance said getting into a cab.

**ooohhh, what's gunna happennnnn? stay tuned :) please comment and stuff, what'd you think? **


	7. come home

**I think you'll find the end of this chapter very interesting... don't worry, this story is almost over... almost, but net yet**

"Plug it in…" Lance commanded a group of technicians in the palace computer room. A large holographic screen of a room popped up, Lance stood before the Image of an empty cell, sounds of footsteps came from behind.

"No, I don't want any part of your stupid plan" a soft voice said.

"Ilana?" Lance asked eagerly.

"…what is this?" She asked being sat down in front of the camera. "Lance? Is that really you?"

"Yes, Ilana It's me, are you okay? What have they done to you?" Lance said almost laughing and crying at the same time.

"I'm holding out fine… they said you were dead, but… you're still here!" She exclaimed happily.

"I promise, I'll see you soon… for real, and we'll be together just like we wanted." He said comforting her.

"When though? I miss you."

"I don't know… soon, I hope." Lance said softly.

"Time to go, you got your proof, Captain." A voice said, Chester walked into view, a bandage was wrapped around his wrist.

"I love you." Ilana said.

"I love you, too" Lance returned.

"How cute, turn off the monitor." Chester said walking off, the screen went black. Lance went to sit down, his chest ached and his eyes burned. It wasn't fair, Ilana didn't do anything wrong… how could he let them take her? He ran his fingers through his hair the way she used to do and stared at his feet. His sadness, his lovesickness, his longing feelings suddenly all turned to hatred.

They took her away from him, they were cruel to her, they didn't even have any terms for him to get her back even if he cooperated. He shouted out in rage and shoved all of the computers off of an empty desk. Not feeling satisfied, he smashed his fist down at the wood table. The desk split in two, and broke on the floor.

"Bring up the video again." Lance ordered. The crew brought up the recorded version without delay. "I want Octus in here, now!"

"Yes, sir" a group of men ran out of the building to find the robot.

"You, enhance the image, top right corner." Lance ordered, the screen zoomed on a red box in the corner. "What is that?"

"It's an electricity power box, sir." A man reported.

"Enhance zoom." The screen went further into detail.

"Seven-Eight-Four-Two-Nine-One-One-Three-Nine-Five -Five-Four-Two-Zero" Lance read a serial code printed on the corner. "Track that code; I want its location."

"Yes sir!" the entire staff responded, all putting their noses to the computers at work.

An hour passed, Lance paced the lines of computers. The door opened up, Octus walked in. "You requested me, Lance?"

"Yes, we might have a lead on Ilana's location… I want a task squad assembled; you're the head of security, correct? Get me ten of your best men; make sure they have the necessary gear… Close quarters weapons, an extraction pod will be necessary." Lance said.

"I will see to it." Octus reported in his old monotone voice he'd grown so familiar to from their time on Earth.

"Thank you, I'll let you get back to your work… I'll send for you when we are ready." Lance said, the robot walked out of the room.

"Captain, sir… we believe we have found the location of the electricity box you requested." A man in a white jacket reported.

"Excellent, bring it up." Lance ordered. A map with a pin point marked on it appeared. It pointed to a large building by the water on the outskirts of town. It was an old abandoned research laboratory. Lance stared at the screen for what seemed like hours. "Alright, let's bring her home."

. . .

It was night, cold as usual. Octus arrived as instructed in the palace court yard. With him, ten men dressed in black combat jackets like the red ones royal guards wore, but they wore the full face helmets that standard guards had. Their helmets were full black except for a small white crest of three moons on them. They had dark shoulder capes and carried compact rifles and combat knifes on their belts.

"Lance, this is Arius squad, the finest available men…" Octus introduced. One of the men approached, taking off his helmet to reveal a man with short Blonde hair and a short mustache.

"Lieutenant Alex Andrelion" He shook Lance's hand. "My men and I understand the importance of this mission, and we are honored to serve."

"I am pleased to have you aboard… Octus, my gear?" Lance asked. The robot rolled out a rectangular box the size of a guitar, Lance opened up the lid and took out the custom load out Octus had for him. The Arius squad black combat jacket and leggings. A customized compact rifle with a night vision scope and several charged clips for the energy shooting weapon, there was also a suppressed pistol that fired standard metal bullets, and a comm. device.

The men turned their backs as Lance changed, he equipped his Manus armor on his wrist, and his dueling sword was put into a custom black sheath on his back. After he was loaded up, they all entered the pod and flew to the location.

Lance waited anxiously as they traveled to the building, "We're here…" The pilot of the craft announced. "I'm picking up hundreds of bio signatures from inside… scans show they're heavily armed… watch your backs… the building is three stories, plus a lower level."

"Thank you, we're ready to drop." Alex said putting on his helmet. "Weapons ready?"

"Yes sir!" the men shouted.

"Communicators on, we go in, we go out. Remember today men, you fight, you serve, you die for the princess of this planet. She who freed us from Modula, now we return the favor" Alex said. "May the moons shine in our favor."

"And may they never set." All of the men responded, Lance included.

"Alright, we drop, take out any threats of the roof. Then search the building. Let's go." Lance said, the bottom of the pod opened up and the men slid down on cables. Octus stayed with the ship. They landed on the roof and sneaked over to the roof entrance.

"Hey, stop!" A guard shouted pulling out a gun. Lance noticed his green patch as the man pulled the trigger, without hesitation the entire group laid fire on him.

"Down stairs, keep your eyes peeled." Lance said, Earth phrases would never truly be understood on Galaluna, but the men followed in. They walked down a narrow staircase.

"Group A, clear floor three, group B second floor, group C ground floor." Alex ordered, the men broke off into groups of three. Alex and Lance walked around the floors and helped clear rooms, after only running into several men and not finding Ilana, they all headed down into the bottom floor.

"I'll take first…" Lance said as they all stood by the door that headed downward.

"Three, two, one… breech." Alex said. Lance kicked down the door, they silently crept in. The captain had drawn his pistol and they walked into the first hallway. Lance held his pistol, ready to shoot at a split seconds notice. The first corner they crept around Lance crept in, no one. He peered through the next.

"Contact, room ahead." Lance announced quietly, he stormed in and shot the guards. "Clear." They continued walking through the maze of hallways and rooms, not knowing what was around the corner. They could be shot right there and be dead before they even realized what was going on.

Half an hour of searching rooms passed, they were typically finding groups of three and four inside small rooms which were all connected. Lance kicked open another door, expecting to find another small room, was surprised to see a giant auditorium before him. Dozens of men waited with their guns pointed at them, "Get down!" He shouted diving behind a stack of barrels, Alex ran to meet him.

The men fired from multiple levels of catwalks in the giant room. Five of the Arius squad members were shot before they could get to cover. "Stay down!" Alex shouted as a wave of bullets fired at them.

"Grenade!" a soldier shouted as a grey sphere rolled towards the group, he ran forward and picked it up and threw it. The grenade exploded off in the distance, but he was gunned down before he could get back to cover. Bullets whizzed by and ricocheted off of the walls everywhere, the sound was deafening even with sound proof gear.

Only a few of their men remained, "cover me!" Lance shouted.

"You're insane!" Alex said.

"Just do it!" Lance said running out into the open, he sprinted until he was far enough away not to crush his comrades, then activated his Manus armor. A giant blue robot appeared from thin air; he raised his arms and unleashed a storm of bullets from his Gatling guns.

"Take cover behind his armor, we most move forward!" Alex commanded the remaining three men. They ran from behind cover and hid behind the Manus' legs and continued to fire.

"I can't get them, they're behind cover!" Lance announced after taking out the majority of the men.

"Flynn, with me" The lieutenant ordered, they ran to the side as the others laid down covering fire. Attacking from behind enemy lines, they were able to gun down the remaining men. "Clear!" Alex announced, Lance disengaged his Manus armor.

"Check the room ahead." He pointed to a single door. Lance picked up his gun and headed over to where the soldiers were planting charges.

"Iron sealed, need to blow past it." Flynn, a younger man said. "Stand clear!"

A small charge, only big enough to blast open the door went off, the men walked in. At a wooden table was a man with a black mask on. He held a shotgun aimed at the door, he fired off a storm of bullets as they entered. Lance didn't know who was hit, he raised his gun and fired at the shot gunner, he fell to the ground.

Lance scanned the rest of the room, "Clear! Damage report."

"One man hit, sir… he's dead." Alex reported after examining the corpse. Flynn walked over to the dead body of the shot gunner. He went through his pockets and found an ID card.

"Winston…" he read, dropping the card on the man.

"That room…" Lance said, pointing out the next door. It was another locked door, they found keys from Winston's body and opened the door.

Keaton stood in the room; he had Ilana at gun point. "Drop your weapons!" he ordered. The men hesitated for a moment.

Lance looked in Ilana's eyes, he could see one thing clearly, _fear. _"Stand down." He ordered, the group laid down their weapons.

"I must say, I am impressed you've come this far… but not all that impressed…" Keaton said moving the gun and shooting Flynn. The boy collapsed.

"No!" Alex went to his comrade.

"Stand up." Keaton ordered. "Stand up!"

Alex stood from kneeling beside the dead soldier, "that was my brother…" The Lieutenant mourned. Keaton fired off another shot, Alex Andrelion was dead. Lance stared at Keaton as he laughed, his blood boiled, his muscles contracted, his body was begging for violence…

"Your turn…" Keaton pointed his pistol at Lance, extending his arm over Ilana's shoulder. Quickly, the Captain grabbed his wrist and moved to the side as a shot fired off, Ilana pushed up his arm so it bent in the wrong direction. The traitor wailed out, the princess elbowed him in the gut and stomped on his foot.

Lance took the gun, kicked him to the floor and pulled the trigger; he examined the pistol and realized it was the one that had been stolen from him on the initial attack. Directing his attention to more important things, he looked over to Ilana and kissed her on the lips.

"I thought I lost you…" He whispered. "We'd better get going…" Lance said, reaching into his bag and handing her the Corus watch. He kneeled down and closed Alex's eyes. The couple ran out of the room, only to find more of the Eyes waiting outside.

"Open fire!" a man shouted. With razor sharp instincts, Lance initiated his armor; he looked to his side to see Ilana in her gold armor. Lance fired his rockets at the men, Ilana shot her lasers.

"Stop!" a voice said, a man in dark cloths said walking into the room. He wore a large hat with a green eye. The men held their fire and bowed to the man, Chester walked by his side.

"Corus and Manus armors, model 886234, model 886235" He examined, his hat glowed and the armors dematerialized, Lance and Ilana fell to their knees from the sudden drop.

"Modula?" Lance asked puzzled.

"Oh no, someone just as special, though…" The man said playing with his long brown mustache. "What time is it, Chester?"

"Two o'clock, sir" He said checking his watch.

"Wow, see that's amazing…" The man chuckled; it was a surprisingly warm and welcoming laugh… one that Lance knew all too well.

Lance's jaw dropped, "Dad?"


	8. Eyes

"Well, son… what do you want to do here?" The man asked, lifting his visor on the hat to reveal the eyes Lance remembered as kind, caring, and strong… he thought his father was dead, so what was he doing here? And why was he working with the Eyes?

"What… y-you died! This is impossible!" Lance said, in complete panic.

"Not quite dead, but close my boy…" Edward said sadly.

"You left, you left me alone! Do you know what you did to my life after you left?" Lance asked, furious now. He could live with the idea of his father dying, but now it seemed like he just bailed out on him completely.

"Yes, and I am sorry…"

"No, sorry doesn't cut it!" Lance clenched his fists, for his entire life he'd grow to accept that his father died testing his invention, _the rift gate_. "You never came back, I waited for you every night at two o'clock, when you always came back! You were never there!"

"If I could have come back, I would have…" His father said softly, the men moved in closer. "Leave us." The soldiers left the room.

"What… what was that? Why do these people follow you?" Lance stammered.

"They are loyal to me, my son… we are not as evil as society portraits us… stay here, we can rule the galactic order… Father and son, don't you want that? Just some time with dad again…" He said, his hat was glowing again.

"Take off that hat…"Lance ordered.

"Think about it, you've lived at the bottom for so long… wouldn't it be nice to rule, people do what you want…" his father said calmly, ignoring what he said.

"Take off the hat!" Lance shouted. Edward walked towards them, his facial expression was gone. He walked forward.

"Son, think of what we could have" he said gently.

"Ilana, get back… now!" Ilana stepped back, Lance pulled out his pistol and pointed it at his father. "Don't make me kill you!"

"You wouldn't shoot your dad… after how badly you wanted him back…" He said. "Ilana, why don't you talk so sense into him?" He asked, his hat glowing. The eye opened up, and glowed even more.

"Ilana, look away!" Lance ordered but she didn't. She just stared into it, not moving, Lance shook her shoulders, she snapped back into reality.

"You're insane!" Ilana shouted. "Get away!"

"That's no way to talk to your father's friend…" A new voice said, a man entered from the shadows.

"Daddy? What's going on?" She asked as Fredrick walked into the room, he wore a smaller cap with the same eye on it.

"Change, my darling… change is good, yes?" He asked in a much too generous tone. The two men walked closer, Lance and Ilana found themselves cornered.

"Join us, we've seen the new order… we could unite the universe, this is our destiny… Listen, children." Edward said.

"Back the heck up!" Lance shouted, the older men did no such thing. Lance fired a warning shot at the roof, they continued walking forward.

"Daddy, stop." Ilana said running up to her father and trying to take his hat off. He forcefully pushed her off, Ilana hit the floor. Tears poured from her eyes, it wasn't the physical pain that hurt.

"Hey!" Lance shouted swinging a punch at her father. He quickly caught his hand.

"You do not strike your king…" Fredrick said, he picked up Lance by the neck and slammed him on the floor. Lance groaned from the hit, he quickly got up and stumbled away.

"What's happening?" Ilana asked.

"I don't know, but we're getting out of here!"

"Wait, Lance, Ilana… we only want you to help us… help us rule, this galaxy needs us…" Edward said, he sounded completely normal, but Lance knew something was strange. "we can save everything, we can be heroes!"

"Come on" Lance said grabbing Ilana's hand, they ran out the door and eventually found their way to the ground floor. They rushed out, Octus jumped down from the pod above.

"Where are the rest of your men?" He asked.

"Dead, we need to get out of here!" Lance ordered, the pod started to lower. Out of nowhere, a rocket fired and blew it out of the sky.

Baron and Chester stood at in front of a group of Eye soldiers. "Where do you think you're going, Lance?" Baron asked with a smirk. Edward and Fredrick came out of the building.

"Don't be irrational now, Lance… I didn't raise that kind of son…" Edward said.

"You didn't raise me! I grew up alone!" Lance shouted. Pods flew overhead; Galalunian soldiers had entered the scene.

"Come forth my master, we must destroy our enemies…" Edward said, his hat glowed and sent a beam from the air. Above, the rift gate opened and a large green streak of light came through. Within moments, a giant black monster with a single green eye landed off in suburbs a few miles away from the city.

"What is that thing?" Ilana asked in terror as it came closer.

"I think we're about to find out… Octus, form Titan!" Lance ordered, it felt good to say that again.

"Engaging Sym-Bionic Titan"

. . .

The trio stood ran towards the monster as one, once again they were united. It had been years since they had used Titan, it was good to be back. One last time.

"Octus, form Sym-Bionic Sword." Ilana commanded, a blade materialized in Titan's hands. As they ran closer, they saw greater detail of the monster. It had hundreds of little green eyes all over its body, and the large center one. Its body was dark black, and had a fat blob shape like Octus' previous form. It only had bulky legs and long arms.

Titan swung at the beast's center; it blocked the attack with its arm. The trio's sword slowly dematerialized while in contact. The monster raised its arms and slammed downward, "Move!" Lance ordered, Titan jumped to the side.

Their opponent screeched angrily, two more arms formed from the creature's back and grabbed hold of the robot. "Our systems are being penetrated." Octus reported.

_Retaliation is pointless. _A soft voice spoke.

"What is that?" Lance asked. Suddenly, Lance and Ilana felt a surge of pain, then saw nothing but black… then bright green… then a blank white.

. . .

Lance walked in a park somewhere on Earth; he picked up a pine cone and chucked it across the field.

"Lance, please help me." a scared voice said.

"Ilana?" Lance turned around; Ilana was being taken by some mutraddi creatures. "Ilana!" Lance sprinted towards her, but she vanished. He found himself floating in some sort of void; it was only him and endless white. He set his foot down on solid ground, but there was nothing there.

_Lance, Ilana is not safe… _a voice told him.

"What? Where is she?" he asked, confused.

_She is safe, but not for long… your enemies plan to take her, to steel her from you._

"Who are they? Where are they?" Lance said angered.

_I do not know, but there is only one way to keep your princess safe…_

"How? Tell me."

_You must become more powerful… _

"I am one of Galaluna's strongest soldiers… we have Titan to protect us."

_One mere man and a robot is not enough, is Ilana not important to you?_

"Of course she is! Protecting her is practically the reason I exist…"

_Then you must full fill your duty, alone, you are not strong enough to protect her… I have seen the future, unless you listen to me… she will die, but I can help… I can help you save her, all you have to do is listen to me._

"You're lying…"

_See for yourself…_

Green lights flashed, the world around started to form from the white. Lance looked around, he stood in Galaluna, everything was destroyed. Bodies were everywhere, he saw himself running in a smokescreen of ash. He ran past Octus' smashed body, the purple sphere lay shattered on the floor.

Ilana was underneath a pile of rubble, the other Lance frantically threw bricks and concrete slabs off of her body. He lifted the girl up in his arms, she weakly opened her eyes.

"Ilana…" he said softly.

"Lance…" She looked down at her belly; a piece of shrapnel was stabbed into her body. Lance gasped.

"Medic! I need a medic!" he shouted. Lance watched horrified as he viewed his future self who was holding the dying princess, no medics came.

"Lance…" Ilana said weakly.

"Yes, my darling?" Lance asked, tears running down his cheeks.

"I love you…"

"I love you too…" Both Lances spoke softly as Ilana's body relaxed, his future for laid her down on a patch of grass, the world slowly melted away. Back into the white void.

_Do you believe me now?_

"What must I do to keep her safe?" Lance asked.

_The Eyes, they can help you… they can save her…_

"I will do what you will, just help me keep her safe..."

**To Be Continued...**


	9. Deception

Lance's thoughts became more focused; he wasn't in the trance anymore. "You're back, I was able to regain your conscious by stimulating brain frequencies with micro electric currents…" Octus explained. Lance looked at him blankly.

"Look out!" Ilana shouted, the monster flew a fist at Titan. The trio quickly evaded the attack and formed another weapon, this time a spear. Titan fiercely lunged at the creature's arm, the tip of the spear head pierced through, leaving a gaping hole.

Slowly, the wound sealed itself and the skin regenerated. "How do we kill this thing?" Lance asked frustrated.

"it is a physiologically based creature, it uses electronic waves to influence brain activity, more specifically thought patters… the next time it invalids one of your minds, I can redirect the same frequency as a counter attack to see if we can overcome its hypnotic powers…" Octus informed.

"It's just like the Shaman…" Ilana said faintly.

"Precisely" Octus answered. "Another force has penetrated our armor, systems are overrun. I'll reboot our drivers to keep us running."

Ilana observed the walls of Galalunian characters being rewritten, then, suddenly. Her vision turned white, then bright green.

. . .

_Princess, the capital has been overrun … We are currently under siege. _A voice said.

"What?" Ilana asked puzzled, she walked down a narrow alley way on Galaluna.

_We have word that Mutraddi have taken control of the palace, our council has been claimed by Mutraddi forces and the King has been taken prisoner, Galaluna is under a second occupation._

"That's impossible…"

_Princess, the towns people are being massacred, requesting immediate relief. _A new voice said.

"Wait, what?"

_Princess, it is my duty to inform you that the Captain has been killed in battle…_

"Lance?" Ilana asked shocked, comprehending what was happening.

_He was killed in a last attempt to take back the palace…_

"No… that can't be" she said, not believing whatever words the voice fed to her.

_Galaluna has fallen, there is only one way to reclaim it… do not let your husband die in vain…_

"How?"

_The eyes, they can help… they can avenge your captain, your father, your people, your kingdom… they cannot be forgotten… the eyes will help you destroy the puny Mutraddi. _

"No… the eyes are evil…"

_They will extend to a necessary evil to achieve peace in the end…_

"No, they've killed many innocent people!"

_The eyes were helping, you must look ahead…_

"They were responsible for the original occupation in first place!"

_Yes, but now the Mutraddi act alone…_

"They cannot be trusted."

_Think about the people being hurt, think about the pain being caused… you must end this, and you cannot act alone._

"I will not support such an evil… the eyes have brought nothing but war and suffering."

_I see, but we insist of your cooperation…_

The voice vanished, a scene of a dark room painted around Ilana. The same room the eyes had detained her in after the ambush on their carriage. Chester approached her, he looked different… his arms were burlier and his straight pearly white teeth were now yellow and crooked… and his eyes were a strange green color.

_Good evening, Princess…_

"What do you want?"

_The eyes, we plan to restore peace throughout the galaxy… for our plan to begin we must control this planet… which is now in your control…_

"No, never…"

_It is funny that you think you have a choice…_

. . .

Lance stood in a blank white void, the voice was back.

_Your precious Ilana has been taken, you must act… the Eyes can help you_

"I will never forgive their cowardly acts of kidnapping her the first time…"

_Her time is running out… she will die if you do not act…_

"Then I will act alone, I don't need your _Eyes, _I'll save her on my own… I did it once, I'll do it again." Lance walked away, the voice followed.

_You cannot, the Eyes are the only way._

. . .

Both Lance and Ilana had tuned out of their conscious minds, their brain activity was unusually stressed. Octus detected a series of electron waves being sent through Titan's circuits, the creature was controlling their thoughts.

Octus' scanners buzzed, he started by sending his own current throughout Titan to alter the creature's waves. Both Lance and Ilana had separate currents running into their bodies, Octus started by connecting the two. Then, with a series of codes he sent a pattern to alter their thoughts so the creature had less influence over them.

. . .

As Lance walked away in the void, he saw a small opening of color. He slowly approached, inside he saw Ilana.

_It is the only way to take back Galaluna… _The same voice that he heard said.

"Ilana!" Lance shouted, jumping into the opening. Suddenly, the world around him painted to match the scenery.

"Lance! I thought you were dead?" Ilana gasped.

"I assure you I am very much alive, let's get out of here!"

_I don't think so. _Chester rushed at them, Lance raised his leg and side kicked him in the gut. He helped Ilana

_Fools, Galaluna is fallen._

"No, my people live… I see past your deception!" Ilana said, the voice suddenly went quiet.

_Lance, Ilana is safe now… the Eyes have lead you to her, you will be accepted among us to repay your debt through service… _

"The eyes did nothing." A familiar voice said.

"Octus!" Both Lance and Ilana cheered at once.

. . .

Lance's thoughts returned to normal, he was inside Titan. "Ilana? Are you alright?"

"Yes, I think so…" The girl said.

"I was able to incept the creature's influence on your thoughts and set up a new defensive system in our inner armor." Octus announced.

"Good, now this thing can't get to us." Lance said confidently. "Form Sym-Bionic bow."

A transparent long bow materialized in Titan's hands, without hesitation the trio sent off a couple shots. The creature dematerialized any arrows that impacted it. Its eyes glowed green again. "The creature is attempting another psychic attack. I'll redirect its own waves towards it." Titan's arms extended, both arms transformed into long antennae like structures. "Preparing to redirect electromagnetic waves…"

Titan's armor buzzed, the walls of the inner armor blurred in and out.

"Tuning frequencies within our armor, we are ready to release the waves back at the creature!" Octus announced.

"Fire!" Lance ordered, Titan's armor glowed bright yellow and shot a wave of blue static from its right arm towards the creature. The beam hit the beast in the large center eye, all of its pupils dilated and it fell to the ground.

"Our redirected attack has destroyed the creature's abilities, it should have no influence on our weapons." Octus said.

"Lance, form Sym-Bionic sword." Ilana said. A long, clear blade formed in Titan's hands. The robot spun the sword in its hands and stabbed it downward into the creature. The blade stayed intact and pierced through the monster.

"The creature is no longer emitting electron waves… It's influence on other minds has been dropped." Octus said.

"Like… mind control…" Lance said softly.

"Precisely." Octus replied.

"Disengage our link" Ilana and Lance both said at once.

**To Be Continued...**


	10. Return

Lance and Ilana ran towards a group of Galalunian soldiers, Octus leisurely walked behind them. "Soldier, status report." Lance ordered.

"Sir, we have neutralized the threats, enemy forces have been eliminated. We have four captures." A soldier reported with a salute.

"Good, show me the hostages." Lance said.

"Yes sir, please follow me." He escorted the couple to a makeshift command post that had been set up, a few armored tanks and transports were positioned in a half circle, soldiers were gathered inside. "Sergeant, bring the prisoners."

"Yes sir!" a man said, he signaled for a few others to follow him and they went to open the back door of a van. Four cuffed men with bags covering their heads were brought out. "On your knees!" He said, the men kneeled before Lance and Ilana.

"Unmask them." Ilana ordered. The man furthest to the left was unveiled. Their hearts pounded, each wanted to see their fathers. The first bag was lifted, Chester stood with an awkward grin.

"How do you do?" He asked with a smirk.

"Put the bag back on." Lance ordered sternly, a soldier put the sack over his head.

"Get your grubby hands off me!" Chester struggled. Lance and Ilana waited until Chester stopped complaining, then they revealed the next.

"Father!" Ilana said halfheartedly, hoping he'd only been under mind control earlier. Not quite knowing if he was back to normal

"My darling…" he said weakly, Ilana went to hug him. "I am sorry…" The King said slowly. Lance signaled for the next, the bag pulled off and revealed a long pointy nose and bleach blonde hair.

"Baron…" Lance gritted through his teeth.

"Lance…" Baron said, more softly. It was more of a guilty tone.

"I should have you executed on the spot!" Lance said.

"You have every right to, but know that I am sorry…" He said bowing his head.

"Damn straight you worthless… wait, what?" Lance asked puzzled.

"I know… I caused you a lot of trouble, and I'm sorry… the Eyes promised they'd help me get the social ranking I've always dreamed of. When you won the war games back in the academy, I was a laughing matter… my father was so disappointed with my failure, and especially our little… escapade, the fight in the Manus armors… I never got much respect after that. So I turned to the Eyes, and after I started serving them, I literally could not stop… they controlled me…" Baron said disgusted with himself. Lance stared at him for a moment. After a moment's thought, he extended his hand and helped Baron stand.

"Un cuff him, make sure you check his mental status… I want him ready as a guest for dinner by tonight." Lance said deeply. Baron smiled as the guards took him away. "Get the last one…"

A guard pulled off the bag, Lance stood… staring at the man before him. Both were silent, Ilana wrapped her arms around Lance to comfort him. "Why?" The Captain asked.

"Son…" Edward said broken.

"Answer me." Lance said forcefully.

"I had no choice…" Lance's father said softly. "The eyes consumed me, they told me they could bring your mother back…" Lance pondered on the words for a moment, he hardly remembered his mother but he did remember his father working so late to avoid the pain after losing her.

"No, why did you leave…" Lance asked, trying to remain strong. "why did you leave your son, alone… with no body…"

"I didn't think I'd be gone for long… the plan was that I would walk through the rift gate, travel through a fold in space and them walk back through… this didn't go as planned."

"Well obviously…" Lance said, trying to contain his temper.

"Son… I am sorry, and I realize what I've done has affected your life more than my own. But… it did mold you into a very strong man, who I'm very proud of… and I hope you'll forgive me." Lance stared at his father, all of those years… training, fighting… he grew up in military school as an orphan… he was sent to wars at the age of thirteen, he waited every night at 2:00 for his father to return. After a while it wasn't hope of return, but straight up grief. Now the man he'd accepted as dead was before him… Lance didn't know how to react.

"Get up." Lance said, Edward stood up. "Your decision to leave me behind would be unacceptable… I will only tolerate what you did for one reason… and that is that your actions brought me together with the woman of my dreams" he said smiling at Ilana. "I do not accept what you did… but I can forgive you. I'll be expecting you at diner."

Edward smiled. "Thank you… son." Lance went to shake his hand, the older man extended both arms and embraced his son. Lance stood motionless as his father held onto him. Carefully, he wrapped his arms around Edwards back. His eyes burned and his heart ached. He felt a smile coming on, and tears trickling down his face. "I missed you son…"

"I missed you too, dad."

**Almost done here, thanks for reading... tell me what you think. thank you.**


	11. The End

Lance and Ilana stood on the balcony overlooking the Kingdom, the towns folk went along with their lives like always. The elegant buildings stood, covering as far as the eye could see. A warm breeze nuzzled at Lance's neck, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and the three moons shone above in the daylight.

Lance looked to his side; Ilana gazed off into the distance. She turned her head and smiled at Lance, he leaned in closer and put his arm around her waist. A warm, simple feeling flooded over the man. "This life we've made together… there's not a place in the universe I'd rather be, when I'm standing here with you."

Ilana leaned in and gave Lance a passionate kiss, the two were motionless for a moment as the world around them stopped. "Ewwww…" A soft voice from behind said. The couple turned around and saw a little boy and girl standing before them.

"Oh, come here now." Ilana said sweetly, the children ran into their arms. Ilana looked at the little girl in her arms, her short black hair stood up in the back like hers. "How was your picnic, Kimberly my darling girl?"

"Good mommy, grandpa Fredrick showed me how to make a necklace out of flowers!" The girl said showing off a piece of string with several colorful plants attached.

"That's wonderful!" Ilana said with a smile, Kimberly handed her the necklace and she put it around her neck. "Thank you, my darling." Ilana said giving her daughter a kiss.

"Well grandpa Fredrick showed me how to catch fish; we even cooked 'em and everything!" A little blonde boy said.

"Ah, so I assume you had a good day, Hobbes my boy?" Lance asked his son, the boy nodded, his freckles shone in the sunlight. There was a knock at the door to Lance and Ilana's room, an older man walked in, his brown hair was turning grey.

"Afternoon, dad." Lance said setting down Hobbes Jr.

"Children, why don't you run along? Uncle Baron will take you to the gardens, we'll be there shortly." Ilana said, the little ones ran off.

"Ah, it warms my heart to see you with your own kids." Edward said laughing as the children rushed down the hallways. "Your daughter is fivr years old, and your son four?"

"Yes." Lance answered.

"Ah, they'll be ready to join me in the lab in no time." Edward laughed.

"Well then Galaluna should be expecting many more inventions on flowers and fish." Ilana joked, Lance chuckled.

"Maybe Hobbes can fulfill his namesake and invent a cover for the top of wells." Lance said with a smirk.

"Ah, there's always a well." Ilana smiled.

"So dad, what brings you around?" Lance asked.

"Just wanted to see my boy, and his beautiful wife." Edward said walking closer to Lance, it was odd that now he had to look up to meet his eyes, since Lance was taller than his father.

"well our tea will be ready soon, if you'd like to say for a cup?" Ilana asked.

"Oh, no… I'm afraid I must get back to the lab… I'm inventing a machine that generates socks from the same energy compounds that Octus is made up of, that way… you never lose them, because you can just materialize or dematerialize them when needed…"

The group laughed. "Alright then, I'll let you get back to work." Lance said, the group said their farewells.

"Come on slowpokes!" They heard two voices say, Lance and Ilana looked out the balcony and say Kimberly and Hobbes inside Octus who had formed a bubble around them.

"Shall we?" Lance asked Ilana, taking her hand.

"Yes, my love." Ilana smiled as they stepped into Octus' body, they overlooked the prosperous city ahead. The world was at peace, and everything was simple. Lance remembered the men who died protecting Ilana and himself during the ambush by the Eyes, Sterus and Vector. The conversation they had, he smiled.

"Well boys, I guess we got that happy ending after all…" He whispered under his breath before leaning in to kiss Ilana again, they lip locked, ignoring the complaints of their children and Octus.

**This chapter is dedicated to Orange H, who insisted on a happy ending... hope you liked it, thanks for the support everyone gave along the way. now that you've read it all the way through, please give me your honest opinion/comments it means a lot. come on this was 47 pages in word, it would mean a lot if you told me what you think. Thanks, PEACE OUT! -Jd Lance**


End file.
